grilles

[fordman]

i've got a 68 ranger. the other day when i was looking at tailgates on the body trim and insignia page i stopped and looked at the grill page just to broaden my horizons. i noticed that the 68 ranger grills had the verticals painted black and a ranger emblem bolted in the middle.

mine isn't painted black but does have the emblem case mounted on it. mine looks more like someone had in the past changed my grill with the grill out of a 69 custom and put the emblem on it. there is absolutely no paint or evidence of paint on my grille no black or even red across it for that matter.

My question is: is it set in stone for 100% sure that all rangers had black paint on the verticals? if so where did this info come from i wonder about that. could it be that my truck could have been bought from the dealer and asked the dealer to give him a 69 grill instead with the emblem? or do i know it could be possible someone has changed the grill.

anyway i'd like to see what you guys think about this. i actually kind of like the unpainted look better than the painted or blacked out

[FORDification]

It's not just the Ranger grilles that had black accents...all '68 aluminum grilles have the painted verticals. It didn't matter whether what trim level it was....they were all the same. The only difference was whether or not it had the Ranger emblem. The steel grilles were painted solid. And yes, it was the only way they came from the factory.

If yours was replaced with a '69 grille, it would have the groove along the middle horizontal bar. The groove was painted red for the Ranger but left plain on all others. (see Figs. 37 and 38 on the Trim & Insignias page.)

If your '68 has a '69 grille, I'd say a previous owner simply replaced his damaged grille with one he found in a salvage yard. Since they're interchangeable and almost identical in appearance, he probably had no problem with it. He might have even intended to put the red stripe in the groove someday, and just never got around to it....or wasn't aware that a '69 Ranger grille was even supposed to have red accent paint in that groove.

[fordman]

i've seen the pics on your page but both the 68 and 69 ranger pics look as if they have the grove down the middle. i like the way mine looks but i was after a stock replica of my truck . da*^&( it. i'm not painting it . it will have to be like that i guess. oh by the way i think that blue 70 might have the mirror your looking for. maybe the pic of his parts truck i seen has a 67 style mirror in the cab from what i can tell and a true 68 grill on it.

[FORDification]

Here's a shot of the '68 grille:



As you can see, there's no groove. The '69 grille is just a '68 grille with a groove.

[fordman]

mine is definently a 69 then i have the groove. what about mid year changes? according to your chart for vin mine had a birhtday in august. happy birthday to my truck. anyway thanks i'll drop the subject.

[FORDification]

So your '68 was produced in August '69 (the last month of '68 production)? Hmmm....well then, I SUPPOSE it's possible that especially if it was a late-month production, they might have started using the '69 grilles on the last of the '68s, but to be honest with you, I'd say it's more likely your grille was simply replaced by a previous owner.

[fordman]

i found evidence that it was tampered with at some point in time i found bolts missing that should have been there. so i'll put them in it later on.

[wn. 68 ranger]

my truck is a 68 ranger with the ranger emblem in the center and the red stripe down the middle .untouched

[fordman]

when was it built? what month?